Moths nesting on ceilings after renovation

thebeeb

Recently moved into a newly renovated house that had previously beem water damaged. Before the renovation i noticed the moth like things cocooned on the ceiling of the bedrooms upstairs. Thought nothing of it really as i thought it was due to the dampness.
We are in the house over 6months now, and in the past month these moths have begun to nest again upstairs in the bedrooms. All the bedrooms have been newly painted and a new carpet put down. Keep hoovering them off but they keep coming back.
Any ideas whats causing this or how to prevent it.

Mods; please relocate if not in right topic

doghound

OK, it is the caterpillars which do all of the damage ( same with most insect pests which have a complete metamorphosis - egg, larva, pupa, adult). The adult moths are generally active in spring/summer and the female usually lays eggs on a food source,so when they hatch into larva ( caterpillar) they have a food source. They normally avoid any light, as they are tasty morsels for most creatures, so in the case of household moths they will be under the carpet munching away on natural fibres until they are ready to pupate.. They then spin a cocoon from silk and begin the process of becoming a moth.
If you are finding moths, the usual household pest ones are small, greyish or pale brownish and not very active. The cocoons usually get hoovered up. Most people only realise they have a problem when the carpet has bare patches or holes are found in the best cashmere jumper.
If you have seen cocoons suspended from the ceiling, that would normally point to a stored product moth such as Indian meal moth or similar.
A lot of nuisance insects can be associated with bird nests as they are a great source of natural food.
I would suggest that the best thing to do is have the species identified and then the correct course of treatment can be decided.
Most insects, moths included, that are found indoors, are fairly innocuous.
Sorry I cannot be more specific, but you might be able to google the commonest pest species to see if that is what you have.


doghound

thebeeb

doghound wrote: »

OK, it is the caterpillars which do all of the damage ( same with most insect pests which have a complete metamorphosis - egg, larva, pupa, adult). The adult moths are generally active in spring/summer and the female usually lays eggs on a food source,so when they hatch into larva ( caterpillar) they have a food source. They normally avoid any light, as they are tasty morsels for most creatures, so in the case of household moths they will be under the carpet munching away on natural fibres until they are ready to pupate.. They then spin a cocoon from silk and begin the process of becoming a moth.
If you are finding moths, the usual household pest ones are small, greyish or pale brownish and not very active. The cocoons usually get hoovered up. Most people only realise they have a problem when the carpet has bare patches or holes are found in the best cashmere jumper.
If you have seen cocoons suspended from the ceiling, that would normally point to a stored product moth such as Indian meal moth or similar.
A lot of nuisance insects can be associated with bird nests as they are a great source of natural food.
I would suggest that the best thing to do is have the species identified and then the correct course of treatment can be decided.
Most insects, moths included, that are found indoors, are fairly innocuous.
Sorry I cannot be more specific, but you might be able to google the commonest pest species to see if that is what you have.


doghound

Thanks for the reply. They are only nesting in the ceiling of 3 rooms upstairs, two of which are bedrooms. In one of the bedrooms they are more common and particularily in one spot. There isn't any food or anything upstairs. And there is no moths evident downstairs where food would be.

Its a strange one alright. Ill upload a pic in the next day or two